What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Andrew S]

Andrew S there’s loads of oolong being aged for decades and actively in Taiwan. It’s the rich people’s game to put away huge jars per year and waiting until a batch is ready for drinking. > it only makes sense to put away high quality tea > hence it’s rare to see them exported as it’s private people’s stash. If aged by the merchant the prices are not interesting to make a reasonable margin for export markets… either no profit or a tea that won’t find a customer.

So mainly it stays local. I might be wrong, but that’s my observation.

Yes, you did mention that before. It seems like quite a different world compared to puer: more of a personal hobby or expensive specialty, and less of a commodity made on an industrial-scale.

Am I correct in understanding that many of the generic aged TGY, Dong Ding, etc styles of tea that are available online are juts things that were not sold earlier and left around? Perhaps that's a myth.

@polezaivsani: yes, concepts of 'tradition' seem to be used as marketing mostly, as well as occasionally becoming 'fashionable' for a while, but perhaps I'm too cynical. I suppose that the people who have the most knowledge and experience about growing, processing, drinking and ageing tea are the ones who are least likely to be talking about it on the internet.

Andrew

[Bok]

Am I correct in understanding that many of the generic aged TGY, Dong Ding, etc styles of tea that are available online are juts things that were not sold earlier and left around? Perhaps that's a myth.

Not necessarily, but usually the "found by accident" is a good story to sell some random and often dubious teas of usually low quality.

> If it was unsold it very likely was not good tea to begin with
> if it was indeed forgotten, chances are high that storage has not been ideal
> if it is well aged quality tea, it already commands a premium locally, plus high demand would make it unlikely to be sold abroad

> merchants also age low and mid grade teas, which then become low and mid grade aged teas for sale for less discerning customers...

[Andrew S]

Enjoying a casual comparison between Daxue Jiadao's Yongchun laocong shuixian and their 'Twin Peaks' (雙乳峰) laocong shuixian from Wuyi, brewed one after another. These are from their 'Explorer 2' sample range, which is all sold out it seems (and I'm not sure if the Yongchun shuixian is the same as the hundred year one available on their website).

It's certainly an interesting comparison between Wuyi and Yongchun (and an introduction to Yongchun tea for me), but the Yongchun shuixian is very enjoyable in its own right as well. A pleasant and 'easy' upfront character quickly develops interesting herbal elements in the earlier infusions and fruity elements later on, with a good 'presence' in the mouth and a nice long aftertaste (again, more herbal first, then more fruity later on).

Andrew

[tjkdubya]

Enjoying a casual comparison between Daxue Jiadao's Yongchun laocong shuixian and their 'Twin Peaks' (雙乳峰) laocong shuixian from Wuyi, brewed one after another. These are from their 'Explorer 2' sample range, which is all sold out it seems (and I'm not sure if the Yongchun shuixian is the same as the hundred year one available on their website).

It is indeed the same Yongchun LCSX Bainian, albeit the Explorer 2 was the 2021 vintage, and currently available one on the website is 2022.

[Andrew S]

Enjoying a casual comparison between Daxue Jiadao's Yongchun laocong shuixian and their 'Twin Peaks' (雙乳峰) laocong shuixian from Wuyi, brewed one after another. These are from their 'Explorer 2' sample range, which is all sold out it seems (and I'm not sure if the Yongchun shuixian is the same as the hundred year one available on their website).

It is indeed the same Yongchun LCSX Bainian, albeit the Explorer 2 was the 2021 vintage, and currently available one on the website is 2022.

Thanks for confirming.

I'm having the Yongchun rougui and the Zhutouyan zougui today. Again, nice teas and interesting comparisons. The Yongchun teas generally feel 'easier' (or perhaps 'friendlier') overall compared to the yancha examples, but with lots of flavour and texture complexities; this rougui has a very interesting transition from upfront fruits to some kind of mineral quality and then a savoury aftertaste for me. It's a very different kind of presentation to most yancha; I assumed as much, but the difference in styles is quite remarkable.

I think they'd make very interesting teas to try both for yancha drinkers and for people who enjoy other traditional styles of roasted and oxidised wulong.

Andrew

[Teafortea]

Cold cold afternoon. Finally sat down and reading with my favorite teapot, tea and book.
Tian Chi Lishan Cha Hojo tea.

[pepson]

Hello.
I was curious about "aged" oolong. That's why I bought 2019 Fujian Hong Mu Dan. This oolong is Wu Yi type, medium roasted. After the fifth brew I could taste a bit of fruitness. I will keeping on testing this tea.

Cup and pitcher are Huaning pottery and pot is made of chamotte clay from Czech pottery.

[Bok]

Hello.
I was curious about "aged" oolong. That's why I bought 2019 Fujian Hong Mu Dan. This oolong is Wu Yi type, medium roasted. After the fifth brew I could taste a bit of fruitness. I will keeping on testing this tea.

Cup and pitcher are Huaning pottery and pot is made of chamotte clay from Czech pottery.

I’d try a different kind of clay for Yancha, or porcelain. This kind you use is often subduing the subtle nuances of Yancha.

[pepson]

I’d try a different kind of clay for Yancha, or porcelain. This kind you use is often subduing the subtle nuances of Yancha.

Hello Bok.

Chamotte clay is really interesting. This link describes its unique features.
https://www.imerys.com/minerals/chamotte

Thanks to the thermal insulation of this clay potter can make thinner walled pots than pots made of other clays. All of my chamotte pots are glazed from inside and are food safe of course. They are work of Czech potterist Ms/Mrs Hrbková.

[Andrew S]

I've enjoyed two rather different roasted baozhongs earlier today, and now it's time for me finally to get around to trying the 'vintage' yancha from Lazycat. It seems to be sold out, so I suppose that that frees me from the burden of deciding whether or not to get any more...

Andrew

[Ethan Kurland]

.... It seems to be sold out, so I suppose that that frees me from the burden of deciding whether or not to get any more...

Andrew

Life is so full of burdens. I have my bed against a wall lengthwise, so I don't need to decide which side to get up from.

[Baiyun]

This morning I enjoyed the November harvest 'Secret Garden Alishan' from FL.

It phases from green to golden as the infusions go on and remains very soft throughout, owed to a distinctly creamy and smooth foundation that flourishes with each breath.

I like to drink it out of a wide open glass bowl as it immerses the senses in a way that rounds the experience - everything about this tea is round, there are no edges anywhere.

I don't think there is a wrong way to brew this tea, however, I do prefer to keep the water piping hot for each infusion since there is nothing detrimental coming out of these leaves. A benevolence that noticeably spreads throughout the body as warm serenity, at least for my system.

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On a side note, I am really content with how the well shaped (as in "water well", but also otherwise) pot functions with ball rolled oolongs. I've got in the order of 8-10 grams in there and it is the only pot I have where the lid is never pushed up, even if the water volume is essentially halved by dense expanding leaves. The narrowing shape and wide rim around the lid seat hold it all down, and the tiny lid just falls into its permanent groove within the leaves. It always pours strongly when packed with a flat 14 or so hole filter. Since I am not shy about mixing the most ephemeral oolongs with their darkest roasted cousins in these dense pots, it's an absolute go to for all ball rolled leaves. It always feels like a bottomless container magic trick when I fish the expanded leaves out.

[Ethan Kurland]

I like to drink it out of a wide open glass bowl as it immerses the senses in a way that rounds the experience - everything about this tea is round, there are no edges anywhere.

Baiyun, You write so beautifully & effectively. Your words enlighten & please me. I quote the sentence about roundness. It is a feeling I have but could not identify so well about another soft tea that I have written about lately. I look forward to more posts from you. Cheers

[Bok]

Flying saucer getting ready to depart to Yancha galaxy! Ultra flat, but ultra nice.

[Andrew S]

Drinking some of EoT's Zhang Hui Chun gushu (not technically 'yancha'), and thinking about the very different ways in which yancha can present itself, while enjoying the feeling and aftertaste of this one.

Andrew